After the happy success I had with my experimental Guinness and treacle sourdough, I’ve been busy playing around with the recipe!
My first variation was a Guinness and treacle ciabatta, made with a very wet (80%) hydration dough. It was difficult to handle, but the elastic, holey crumb made it worth the effort. Based on our ciabatta recipe, I tweaked the quantities and ingredients as follows:
- 300g Guinness starter
- 650g fridge cold water
- 1kg Buratto flour (or bakers flour, but you might need to reduce water quantity)
- 60g treacle
- 19g fine sea salt
The dough was left to prove on the bench overnight, then shaped and baked the following day without a second rise, following the method we use for our regular ciabattas.
. . . . .
Aren’t these rolls adorable? They’re shaped into Essex huffers, as taught to me by my friend Anne at Life in Mud Spattered Boots.
The dough is the same as the original Guinness loaf, but formed instead into a flat circle, cut into wedges and baked in a round cake tin. Anne has detailed instructions on how to shape the huffers here. Small Man was particularly taken with these rolls – he ate three of them before dinner.
As always, the versatility of sourdough never ceases to amaze me!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Having had a weekend of complete disaster as far as sourdough baking is concerned, I am happy you had the opposite experience :-)
Lovely rolls, what a nice shaping, reminded me of the Golspie loaf from Lepard’s Handmade Loaf… remember those?
Sally, I remember the name, but I don’t think I’ve ever made them! I’ll go look up the recipe now, thanks! xx
Oh my – huffers. I would take a bread class from you in a heartbeat! We could let Small Man be the tester.
Maureen, they were great fun to make! I love finding a new bread shape to experiment with! :)
Each area has it’s own version of these gorgeous soft rolls. Up here they are teacakes, 11 miles west they become barm cakes and 11 miles east they are breadcakes! Lovely recipe!
Pat, I remember reading in Anne’s post that the huffers were meant to be soft – mine were only huffer-shaped, as they’re quite hard and crunchy sourdough. But definitely worth experimenting with some more! :)
If Guinness Huffers taste as good as they look then I’ll have to try them. Bill was amazed that anyone could eat three of them before dinner! As I don’t have any flat Guinness lurking in my fridge, I’m going to add some Essex ale to my starter to make a very Essex huffer.
Anne, let Bill know that Small Man is a 16 year old teenage wolf. If I leave bread rolls on the counter, they tend to disappear before I get back into the kitchen. Can’t wait to see your Essex ale version! :)
these sound very interesting.. I am going to wind up my starter again.. but first back out to move the cows.. c
Bet you have a lot to catch up on, Celi! xx
the versatility of sourdough rocks my world! It really does :-) Lovely crumb structure in these ones Celia.
Brydie, thank you – was very chuffed with the ciabattas. I wanted to take a crumb pic of the huffers as well, but Small Man demolished them before I had a chance to! :)
I keep meaning to try making ciabatta with Kevin but I keep forgetting. Must make ciabatta!!! These look wonderful Celia. I love the wedges too.
Claire, ciabatta is my lazy default bread, it’s so easy! :)
Guinness in bread! What versatile health food it is! I’m still in awe of your slap-dash ciabatta – it’s on my list.
Here’s the even easier yeasted version, Amanda! :)
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/06/22/pane-de-casa-a-tutorial/
I am so amazed at your bread making skills and love how you are always experimenting and creating new shapes and texture, wish I was your neighbour.
That’s an interesting name for the style of bread :) They certainly look delicious- whatever they’re called! Xox
Aren’t these just the cutest?! Your bread making skills are what never ceases to amaze me! xx
Thanks Barb, they were great fun to make too!
Amazing looking bread Celia (as always). My starter died an very unhappy death just before we went away, so I need to go back to my source to get some more. Will have to add this to my (very large) list of breads to try :)
Oh that’s not good, Tania! I hope you get your hands on some more!
It’s always great to see your bread because you seem to be forever discovering new breads to bake. I can imagine Small Man just loving these! xx
It always makes me laugh what our kids like, they’re so honest. If they like something, they’ll eat as much of it as they can get their hands on. If they don’t like it, no amount of cajoling will get them to finish what’s on their plate. :)
Wow, I love the colour!
Thanks Tandy! Amazing what a little black beer and treacle will do.. ;-)
What beautiful bread! I love those rolls at the bottom. I can’t wait to get home and bake bread!
Clare, it’s very addictive, isn’t it? :)
More yummy bread Celia, sourdough is amazingly versatile isn’t it? x
Jane, I often run out of ideas for cakes, but rarely for sourdough!
Celia, I read this today in the SMH and thought of you. Being able to make a true bread is such a craft, I applaud you x
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/blogs/blunt-instrument/honest-bakeries-the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread-20130715-2pzhb.html
Lisa, that’s very kind of you, thank you. It was an interesting article!
They look good darling :) There are definite advantages to baking in tins, the Golspie loaf is a wholemeal loaf baked in a tin and marked into sections before baking, similar to the way classic soda breads are marked up. A way of reducing the amount of crust and keeping the sides of the sections soft. German bakers used to use wooden frames and I believe so did Irish bakers to achieve similar effects.
Thank you dearheart, I’ll have a reread of Dan’s book now. I don’t often bake in tins (too lazy) except to make a sourdough version of your sandwich bread! :)
Lazy? I don’t think so somehow xx
You never cease to amaze, Celia. Your latest ciabatta creation is fantastic. Love the shape and size of each “piece”. They could easily be used for a hearty sandwich. I agree with Maureen. I’d gladly pay to attend a bread baking class conducted by you. :)
I would love nothing more than to hang out with you and Maureen in my kitchen! Whenever you can get here.. ;-)
I really must get more adventurous here! Marion is being very naughty at the moment – I’m wondering if the fridge is too cold for her or I’m not feeding her enough. Loved the Korean bbq post, you have nurtured another lovely soul. xxx
The starters are always slugging in winter, Ali. Priscilla’s been playing up as well!
Wow you got some very dramatic holes in it! I find wet doughs so hard to handle (the instinct is to add more flour) but as you say the results are often great!
They’re fun to play with, but sometimes it’s like trying to shape soup! :)
These look wonderful Celia – you’re as inspirational as always. Think I will have to bookmark this though for cooler months as I’m rapidly going off baking in our very untypically English hot, hot, hot July.
Loving the texture of that bread — big, airy holes make for great chew and lovely pockets for oil or butter. :) YUM!